Yanwoo wrote:

Reeventu wrote:

Try something different that really works and is cost effective.

Linux laptop , no microsoft or windows . It is the base of Apple Mac.

Use Ubuntu as the desktop etc. Libre office or open office ( all free )same as Excel, word etc.

Firefox for your browser and Thunderbird for mail

No need for virus protection as t is rarely if ever attacked.

Used mine for 2 years plus now and is or has been faultless.

Now over to the experts to tell you why not ........

Linux and open office are great but I wouldn't recommend it to someone who isn't tech savvy. Although it's come a long way in terms of being user friendly it's still not close to being 'plug and play'. Even the most user centric versions you're likely to need to poke under the hood if something non-standard goes wrong.

E.g. I have a USB to boot to Linux for some stuff on my Mac, and nearly pulled out my hair trying to get my USB wifi dongle to work! I ended up having to download and customize a bunch of stuff, command line etc. I've been using Linux on or off for 20 years so I know my way around. These compatability issues can be a nightmare (somewhat avoided of course if you pick your hardware carefully)

I am no expert but I have never had issues in linking with PC. I have to use windows on the office network and my ( Linux ) laptop at home links with this OK . I have the usual synchro set up with Android phone/android tablet microsot desktop and the linux laptop

nothing special about this i know but it does work OK. Can certainly attached USB and external hard drives for backup to any machine and again it works OK.

The laptop just seems to accept whatever I plug in and just shows an appropriate icon on the desktop.

I agree it is very different and takes some getting used to, but once sorted in your mind it is very easy.

I have never had the money to spend on any apple product, I know it is supposed to be excellent but £1000 or whatever for a laptop and 5/600 pounds for a phone and whatever for a tablet, is just a step too far.

My laptop with 1 Tb of storage, 32 Mb ram was lunder £400 and of course the software is free , including upgrades, which incidently just happen in one batch for all programmes about every 12 weeks or so ( a bit of a guess as it is quite rare.)

Android HTC phone is a free upgrade on o2 every 18 months and the tablet was under £100

I am also a bit of a scrooge

I will chip in here. Have been interested in computing for about 20 years and worked in the industry for 12, having tried and tested most options available.

If you want to use browsing, email, Word and Excel as your main uses, you do not need a Mac. They are nice, but stupidly expensive and will provide you with nothing extra in terms of your needs.

Linux is still a no no for the home user looking for no issues or easily resolved issues.

Which leaves you with Windows on a laptop. I don't really like Windows 8.1 but within the year it will be upgraded to Windows 10. How nice/nasty that will be is yet to be seen but is likely going to meet your needs far better and at a better price point, whether cost is an issue or not.

With regards to using your iPad etc with it, Windows is perfectly capable of syncing your photos from an iPad or iphone or any other device when plugged in. No big deal there.

But whatever you choose, you will need to learn what it can do in order to get the best from it. The best way to do it is to google questions.

As for heat, if you get a laptop with an SSD instead of a normal drove it should run a little cooler but generally it will depend on the processor and what you do with the laptop. The harder you make it work, the hotter it will get. I had a 2012 MacBook Pro which ran like an iron when doing anuhing challenging. When looking at the laptops looks for where the fan intakes and exhausts are. My current laptop has an intake on the bottom and an exhaust on the side. What this means is that if you sit it on your lap, your clothes block the intake and it gets really hot, blowing really hot air out the side as it tries to cool the powerful processor.

As for where to get one, PC World isn't great, none of the consumer shops really are. But it doesn't stop you going in and getting a feel for them. If you like one, buy it. If not, go online and look for recent laptop comparisons and then see if you can find the models online to buy.

Hope that is of some help. FL2 TD4 GS 60 reg Facelift - so many issues
2019 DS. Terribly unreliable.
Sold DS for a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Fingers crossed....
Sold Outlander for a 2014 SD4 SE Tech because I’m mental
Now greatly regret selling the Outlander. MPG of the FL2 is atrocious and so are the fuel bills. Fun though 😎
Couldn’t afford the fuel bills so back to an older Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Significantly better than I remembered it to be…

piattj wrote:

PC World. In a word...NO.

Use as a showroom and buy online

Will do. I usually buy my electrical goods through John Lewis as they price match and give two years guarantee plus, if you buy online, theres always the option to return it if not satisfied.

John Lewis are good but limited in choices.

Have you tried PC.co.uk where you can actually build your own laptop to your own spec? Will cost a wee bit more but ensures you get what you want and need ajd absolutely no extra software to slow things down. FL2 TD4 GS 60 reg Facelift - so many issues
2019 DS. Terribly unreliable.
Sold DS for a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Fingers crossed....
Sold Outlander for a 2014 SD4 SE Tech because I’m mental
Now greatly regret selling the Outlander. MPG of the FL2 is atrocious and so are the fuel bills. Fun though 😎
Couldn’t afford the fuel bills so back to an older Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Significantly better than I remembered it to be…

Just to test my own theory I configured a beast of a laptop from pc.co.uk and it was well cheaper than the lowest spec Mac. And that included a full Office licence.

I have no experience of the actual products but they are built using the same parts as pretty much every other manufacturer so would imagine they are ok. FL2 TD4 GS 60 reg Facelift - so many issues
2019 DS. Terribly unreliable.
Sold DS for a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Fingers crossed....
Sold Outlander for a 2014 SD4 SE Tech because I’m mental
Now greatly regret selling the Outlander. MPG of the FL2 is atrocious and so are the fuel bills. Fun though 😎
Couldn’t afford the fuel bills so back to an older Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Significantly better than I remembered it to be…

They don't do a thin 2 in 1 13" laptop/tablet combo though.

Must have missed those requirements...

Does it really need to be thin? Does it need to be 10"? Are you going to be transporting it all over the place or is it just a home computer? Working on spreadsheets and word documents on a smaller, lower resolution screen is not a nice long term experience. A larger laptop with a better screen is infinitely better for that kind of thing. FL2 TD4 GS 60 reg Facelift - so many issues
2019 DS. Terribly unreliable.
Sold DS for a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Fingers crossed....
Sold Outlander for a 2014 SD4 SE Tech because I’m mental
Now greatly regret selling the Outlander. MPG of the FL2 is atrocious and so are the fuel bills. Fun though 😎
Couldn’t afford the fuel bills so back to an older Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Significantly better than I remembered it to be…

I actually prefer a tower system to a laptop, you can add extra discs and peripherals, they cost a lot less than an equivalent laptop, you can easily replace bits that go wrong and you can have multiple video cards and monitors. I have two screens side by side one 27" and one 24" and a proper keyboard. Currently using Win 10 on it and no complaints. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

I bought a new 17" laptop from HP direct just before Crimbo as my last one beeped at me pathetically on awakening from sleep. I checked prices everywhere and HP came out the same as PC world, but the PCW machine was an older version with lower spec, found a discount voucher for HP so it ended up £50 cheaper and newer than PCW my PC is slightly to the right of Genghis
2012 HSE SD4 In Orkney Grey now gone, best car ever.

I just wanna good quality, light, cool to the touch, tablet that can fit on my lap at home while I browse the 'net and read emails with the ability for my wife to use it as a typing tool to do odd bits of work related to my business - invoices and letters. I don't want to wait aaaages every time I switch it on. A 13" model seems about the right size for my needs - not too small that the keyboard is too fiddly and any bigger it will start to get heavier. A bonus would be decent screen to watch catchup TV and Netflix etc. I want to buy it not build it. I want a common operating system with everyday applications that any of my clients, colleagues and customers can open and read without having to convert said files. I also want to load all my previous word and excel files on to it. Oh, I might want to design a very basic web site with it. It won't be used for gaming or any clever design type of work. I'm not up on the technical side of things so I really haven't got the time or inclination to get into operating systems and applications that I've never heard of. I have a tablet which is no good for typing, I have a desktop PC which won't fit on my lap and which I want to install in work where I have the space. I have a laptop that gets too damn hot when it's on my lap. I'm looking for a 2 in 1 machine and from looking around my choices seem limited. I only started looking because I saw the Lenovo yoga 3 Pro and assumed that there would be a load more of that type to chose from. Seems I was wrong. It's for work so cost isn't a problem - if they did a Mac that run word and excel and had a touch screen I'd be very interested but they don't. I'm more confused now than when I first asked the question!!!! I might end up waiting to see if anything else comes out on the market but with that attitude, I know I'll never end up getting anything. Why is nothing ever straightforward?

Ps. Reading back, I'm not asking too much am I?

J F D I

I M J F D I

Chuckalicious' posts make a lot of sense.

The simple truth is there is no "right" answer to your requirements - a number of different types of system will do what you need with varying degrees of success, and with varying degrees of ease of use.

As others have said, get yourself to a good mainstream retailer where you can test drive the various bits of kit.

Ignore the sales patter from the knuckle-dragging cerebrally challenged staff, and decide for yourself what "feels" right, remembering that whatever you buy will be "right" for you - irrespective of whatever any of us have said in here.

For what it's worth, from your description above, if money really isn't an issue and you want to stay in "Microsoft World", then what you describe sounds an awful lot like a Microsoft Surface.

But don't listen to me - get some bits of kit in your hands and see what feels right.

Thank you Choccy.

I wasn't going to mention the surface, but it is supposed to be am excellent bit of kit. Only the Pro 3 though. That is a proper supercharged laptop, in tablet form, running full Windows, with a decent keyboard. If I could afford one Id have one.

The reason I suggested building your own (and by building I mean you select the options and it is shipped to you built and ready to roll), is because I did it myself - about 7 years ago. Good spec machine but with a spectacularly high res screen - I did a lot of photo editing. It is still going strong today and the real estate on screen is still unrivalled on all but the most expensive laptops today. FL2 TD4 GS 60 reg Facelift - so many issues
2019 DS. Terribly unreliable.
Sold DS for a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Fingers crossed....
Sold Outlander for a 2014 SD4 SE Tech because I’m mental
Now greatly regret selling the Outlander. MPG of the FL2 is atrocious and so are the fuel bills. Fun though 😎
Couldn’t afford the fuel bills so back to an older Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Significantly better than I remembered it to be…